1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention is generally directed to stroller seats, and more particularly to a stroller seat with an adjustable or articulating calf support.
2. Description of Related Art
Strollers and similar products are known in the art for transporting children. Most of these devices provide a seating area that is configured to hold and support a child during use of the stroller. Many of these known products employ a child seat that has only one non-adjustable seating configuration for the child. In addition, many of these types of products are not suited to allow different age-dependent seating arrangements for an infant or a child occupant as they grow.
Some strollers offer seat configurations that can accommodate various sized/aged children from newborns to toddlers. Some strollers only accommodate infants, and others only accommodate older children. Strollers that accommodate newborns can have a seat that can be positioned in a “lie flat” configuration. Strollers that accommodate older children can have an upright seating configuration. Positions between upright and lie flat can be achieved in some strollers by reclining a seat back to varying angles. In a lie flat configuration, it is desirable to encompass the envelope of the flat seat back and seat bottom with “walls” for a child's safety and security. One part of the wall can be formed by a head pan of the stroller seat, which is attached to a top end of the seat back.
The Chicco Cortina model stroller accomplishes moving a head pan on the stroller seat from an upright position to a flat position by using complex mechanical linkages to drive the head pan up to a 90° angle relative to the seat back in order to create such a wall with the seat lying flat. The Graco Andale model stroller also has a similar design, with plastic linkages and webbing. The mechanical linkages can require many plastic components. As a result, such mechanical linkages embody numerous components, which can be expensive to manufacture and assemble, thereby adding unnecessary cost and complexity to a stroller.
Strollers and stroller seats are also known in the art that incorporate a calf support. In many examples, the calf support is connected to a forward end of the seat bottom of the stroller seat. A typical calf support provides a rest surface between a foot rest on the stroller frame and the forward end of the seat bottom to provide comfort to the seat occupant. This type of calf support can support the feet, and calves of a smaller seat occupant, particularly where the occupant's feet cannot yet reach the foot rest.
On many strollers of this type, the calf support is adjustable between at least a raised position and a lowered position. The surface of the calf support can generally lie more elevated, parallel, or closer to parallel to the seat surface of the seat bottom in the raised position. The surface of the calf support can lie at a greater downward angle relative to the seat surface and hang or depend more downward from the seat bottom in the lowered position.
A typical calf support is retained in a selected position relative to the seat bottom by lock mechanisms on opposite sides of the seat. Each of the lock mechanisms typically has a button that must be depressed in order to release the individual mechanism. Thus, the caregiver must typically use both hands to release the lock mechanisms before being able to adjust the calf support position either up or down. With both hands occupied, it can be difficult, cumbersome, or awkward for the caregiver to then adjust the position of the calf support.
Some stroller seats employ a calf support with a wire that underlies the calf support and connects the lock mechanisms. The wire must be manipulated to release the calf support during adjustment. The wire release mechanism typically does not operate intuitively. In order to adjust the calf support to the raised position, a user must lift the calf support well beyond its intended raised position and away from the wire, locate the underlying wire, then lift the wire to set the calf support to the raised position, and drop the calf support back onto the wire. In order to lower the calf support, the user must again lift the calf support from its current position away from the wire and then push down on the wire to release the lock mechanisms. The calf support can then be repositioned to the lowered position. The release wire can be actuated using one hand, but the user must first use one hand to lift the calf support away from the sire prior to adjustment. Thus, the user must typically still use both hands to adjust the position of the calf support because one hand manipulates the wire after their other hand grabs the calf support during adjustment.